If You had $15,000 to Spend on a Bike...

[911 Rod]

I'd kill myself on either!

[LEAKYSEALS951]

15K?
You forgot tractor.
I'd get an Aethos, KLX, a KUB, and still have $$$ to burn!

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[908/930]

The Ducati, no doubt. The Dogma F does not even have twin front discs, how fast can it be. One crash and they are likely to be scrap.

[Bill Verburg]

It depends on which one you would actually use

when I was young and full of oats, the Ducati, no question about it

But these days no way

One of these is way more satisfying

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Apples and oranges comparison. Nonsensical.

Like asking a classical violinist if he would prefer a $15k violin or a $15k piano.

A lot of musicians play both. A lot of riders ride both. Neither is as mutually exclusive as you would like to depict. As such, a perfectly valid comparison.

And yes, the bike industry is in the schitter. So is the motorcycle industry, but for entirely different reasons. The former because they simply cannot justify the cost against the perceived value. The latter because young people just don't ride motorcycles anymore.

No shortage of bicyclists, though. For most of them, however, even $2-3k is just an absurd amount of money to spend on a bicycle. Especially for one with a very well acknowledged finite service life on the one piece of it most responsible for driving that cost. Add lack of standardization on components that use to interchange across the industry, along with planned obscelecance, and no wonder the industry is in deep trouble.

[rattlsnak]

$16k on a bike..?? Already have. Just got this recently.. (stock photo)

[908/930]

Jeff you mentioned lack of standardization I call it bastardizing. I made a titanium crank set for my mountain bike years ago, threads for the pedals not a common pitch, made my own taps. Threads for the small fasteners that hold the chain rings I could not find a lathe that could cut that pitch and I checked six of them, for some reason they try hard to be different.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I recently sold my Trek Madone Project One that I bought used in 2015 for roughly $1,500. I rode it for several years and got my money back out of it. When I bought it, it was a few years old, maybe a 2010 model, and was a dealer demo. New they were north of $10,000. I would never pay that much for a bicycle and generally buy used anyway. I ended up keeping my old Lemond steel bike. If I was going to keep one road bike, that was it. I can see a new motorcycle costing that much.

[cockerpunk]

if i was into bikes, id be into a CBR250RR in a heartbeat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5TJSYZONho

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Yeah, I'd buy a Honda and spend the change at the pub.

A friend is selling his bike above..

I have actually turned down $15K, each for a few of my vintage BMX bikes.
Like a few of the others here, I’ve literally been riding most of my life but am into multiple types of bikes.

[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/10000918281741288588.jpg[
[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/10000396041741288588.jpg[






[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/10000297521741288588.jpg[/

[icemann427]

Unless you are a world class cyclist, you don't need a $15k road bike. There are all kinds of great used carbon bikes out there in great condition for $1k+/-. Buy one of those AND a motorcycle.

[stevej37]

I own only three bikes...the most expensive one was $900
My 8 speed belt driven bike is the most enjoyable for riding...and it was $400

My last mtr cycle was 20 years back...too many close calls, esp at night with deer.

[Bill Verburg]

You don't need a Porsche 911 either,

[Bill Verburg]

You don't need a Porsche 911 either, but some can feel a difference between one and a KIa or Subaru or Honda

It's all about the pleasure of the experience

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by icemann427

Unless you are a world class cyclist, you don't need a $15k road bike. There are all kinds of great used carbon bikes out there in great condition for $1k+/-. Buy one of those AND a motorcycle.

You gotta love it when people tell you what to spend the money you earned on.

[The Synergizer]

I'm proud of the fact that I have managed to invest, spend, or waste most of my money through the years on meaningless stuff I wanted, or people for fun, and yet still will leave an OK legacy of homes, cars and money for someone when I pass... Not all money should be hidden under your mattress...

[VINMAN]

$15 Gs??
I'll stick with my Huffy..

.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

A friend is selling his bike above..

That looks like it would be fun. I like the mods. I like the colors. Unfortunately at 6'2 and mostly legs I know I'd look ridiculous on it. (Not to mention Portland is a city full of horrific drivers.)

Baz, wouldn't this look good alongside all the Interceptors?

[Jeff Higgins]

This is all just "disposable income" and, God Bless America, we each get to spend ours however in the hell we want. I find it interesting how the "perceived value" of some of our toys are perceived by the "outside world", folks maybe not as deep into our end of the pool as we might be in our chosen forms of recreation.

In this particular comparison, my knowledge of motorcycles vastly exceeds my knowledge of bicycles. I know there are guys on here that know more about one or the other or both than I do, and guys who know less. I just like hearing everyone's points of view. I'm just getting back into bicycling, after way too long of a hiatus spent twisting throttles rather than crank arms, so I've been poking about the World Wide Webs getting back in touch with the world of cycling. To say I was "surprised" at what one can now spend on a bicycle would be the understatement of the day. So I thought I'd have some fun with it.

I had a similar conversation with my younger son, who finds himself getting pretty enamored with golf. I never played, but my dad was an amateur tournament winning golfer. Looks like that bug skipped a generation. Anyway, #2 son is spending some shekels on clubs and other necessary equipment. His put is that as far as disposable income, "fun money", neither golf nor cycling even come close to other potential sink holes, no matter how hard we try.

One thing I do find rather disconcerting is the depreciation that many of you have mentioned. Why is that? Why is cycling so unusually burdened? You guys might guess that I've spent some rather serious money on specific firearms, but I can honestly say they are all worth more (some a good deal more) than I paid for them. Granted, my greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife sells them for what I told her I paid for them rather than what they are really worth, but I do have two sons who are keenly aware of (and sworn to secrecy regarding) their true worth. That aside, what's the deal on bicycle depreciation (outside of Byron's collectable bikes)?

[herr_oberst]

I don't know the answer to that Jeff. But if I had to guess, it's because they're so terribly overpriced when new, and technology is moving quickly. Obsolescence is the byproduct. But if you know what you're looking for, and at the right place at the right time, there are deals to be had!
The brand Kona was really struggling post-covid; they had overbuilt and had a warehouse full of bikes. What to do? How about a 2 for one Mtn Bike sale. Buy one, get one free. WT actual F?

My fully loaded Crux - with a seat bag full of tools and spares, a full 20oz water bottle and relatively heavy pedals weighs the same as my steel Italian Basso carrying no bottles, no seat bag, and equipped with light speedplay pedals. And with the light wheels on the Crux, the acceleration is astonishing in comparison, even with 32mm tires instead of the 23's on the Basso. And this is a dirt bike!!

One last thing, I chose the Crux Expert. Not the Comp and certainly not the S-Works. I didn't need the bragging rights of the best of the best, and I'm a value-oriented consumer when shopping for new. I know my ability and this meets my needs. The Tarmac S-Works was a passion project that I built it from a bare frame and even then I shopped carefully to keep the cost under control during the build.